Kingdom Hearts: The Heroes Chronicles
by Insomniac-Kitty
Summary: After the event of Dream Drop Distance, Sora must embark on his journey to protect The Realm of Light once more from an armored woman covered in darkness, with the help of seven greatest heroes: Ratchet and Clank, Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper and his Gang. In meantime, the heroes must find some clues about their connections to three keyblades wielders... Take place during in PSMH.


**Chapter 1: Awakening **

"My friends are my power! And I´m theirs!"

"Aqua, Ven, one day, I´ll set things right."

"My name is Master Aqua! Now return my friend´s heart or pay the price!"

"This world has been connected; tied to the darkness; soon to be completely eclipsed."

"All for one and one for all!"

"That´s not true! I know now, without a doubt, Kingdom Hearts is light!"

"In this place, to find is to loose and to loose is to find, that is the way, in Castle Oblivion."

"If his memories become her memories…she will never survive it."

"I belong with Sora. And now, I am going back…to be with him."

"Sora…you´re lucky, looks like my summer vacation is…over."

"Think I´ll pass, my heart just wouldn´t be in it you know, haven´t got one."

"There is one advantage to being me, something you could never imitate; having you for a friend."

"In fact, I´d like to believe maybe he can set things right. A boy like him who touches so many hearts. He could open the right door and save all those lives I´ve managed to ruin."

…

"If I leave you with the Dimensionator, no one will be safe. Not the Lombaxes, not my friends... I'm not going anywhere, until it's destroyed."

"Well it's not going to be this planet. We've lasted this long. We've just got to find a way to destroy that thing. The truth lies at the bottom of the catacombs. That's where I need to go."

"I don´t know what´s in my future, but I won´t be a repeat of my past."

"Kairi, I…It´s just…they really need me. I have to go. I am who I am…because of them."

"See you soon."

…

(Ratchet)

Falling… falling… falling through what seemed like the sky, soaring past memories of his life… Meeting his friends… Encountering dangers a lone person couldn't possibly face alone… And… of his…

No. He…he can't think about that. Not now…

However, he realized that he couldn't open his eyes. Or even move! Still… something kept him from panicking as though… this was… natural. Suddenly, he felt his head hit water. He continued to fall as though he was still soaring through the air. As he neared the rapidly approaching ground, he began to slow. Then, the force of gravity made his lower body fall, to make it as though he's floating on his back, rather than falling head first.

As it did, he slowly opened his eyes, and automatically took a deep breath. That made him do a take in surprise. He could…He could breathe…underwater? How is that possible?

When he thought of that, his body righted itself so that he landed on something, his brown boots making contact with something…metallic?

Blinking again, he looked around the area he was in. He was standing on a strange black surface, all around him, there was nothing but darkness. But…not the kind of darkness he was forced onto, or the darkness most people associate with. Without thinking, he took a step.

And had to cover his eyes with a groan as a bright flash of light illuminated under him. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light, he looked on in awe as thousands of doves flew around him and towards the sky, never to be seen again, leaving a few of their pure white feathers behind...

After watching the doves for a bit, he looked down at the ground below him. It was a large circular, stained-glass platform. Upon it, with the platform colored in a shade of light to yellow-green, lay an image of a pretty young woman eating an apple. Her hair is the color of ebony, her skin as white as snow, and seemed to be wearing a dress… like a princess. Yet what seemed strange about her – other than the fact that she seemed asleep – was that her ears are short. Really short.

Before he could think about what was going on, a voice... suddenly spoke to him.

_**"So much to do… So little time…"**_ it said. _**"Take your time… Don't be afraid…"**_

That comment made him raise a green brow. '_Afraid? Afraid of what, exactly?'_

A shaft of light suddenly shined in the middle of the platform, catching his attention. _**"The door is still shut… Now, step forward. Can you do it?"**_

He frowned. Something suspicious is going on here… What's this whole business

about a... door?

Deciding to humor the voice, he did what it asked him to do, walking to the middle of the platform. When he did, however, he realized with a start that his Holoflux Suit isn't on. He wore the clothes he had been wearing since Percival Tachyon arrived and invaded the city of Metropolis…

He heard rumbling, the ground under him shaking a little. Before he could get into a defensive stance, a pedestal to his right rose up, and a shield appeared. _**"Power sleeps within you..."**_

A pedestal to his left rose up, a staff appearing this time. _**"If you give it form..."**_

A pedestal in front of him rose up, and a sword appeared, all three weapons floating, as if they're suspended in mid-air. _**"It will give you strength..."**_ The voice explained.

He gazed over the three weapons over the pedestals. The common thing all three of them shared is that they had, are strange 3-circled insignia that resembles a mouse's head…

_**"Choose well, Son of Kaden"**_

"What?" He spoke up for the first time since coming here, startled. "Wait, how do you know I'm Kaden´s son?" He demanded, trying to look for the source.

Yet it seemed the voice is gone. The young lombax groaned. He looked at the weapons once more. What did the voice mean by 'choose'? Did it want him to pick a weapon?

He slowly went over to the sword first, gripping the hilt as he laid the blade onto the palm of his other hand. The moment he did, he felt… _stronger... braver..._

_**"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?"**_

The invincible courage part sounded (), and full of destruction due to his previous adventures. He looked at the sword one more time before nodded his head, releasing the sword, and became a part of him.

He went over to the shield this time, grabbing the edges as he looked over the handle at the back of it. From the shield he felt a strong desire to protect and felt… _kinder._

_**"The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?"**_

Guardian, huh? Well... he was pretty good at protecting anyone he could. Even if-

No. He couldn't think about that.

He gripped the handle and made a few practice strokes with it. He grinned as he held up the shield again. "Hmmm…no."

The shield in his hand suddenly vanished, taking him by surprise. Yet... he felt that it became a part of him.

_**"Your path is set. Now, what will you give up in exchange?"**_ The voice asked.

He immediately looked over at the staff. Jogging over to it, he plucked the staff from the pedestal. He became _smarter... wiser..._

_**"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Will you give up this power?"**_

Mystic? As in a 'magic'? Well, he was never one to use 'magic'.

So he answered, "No" The staff suddenly had a lot of cracks on it before it seemed to fade away, taking the young man by surprise. When it did, a part of him also faded away...

_**"You have chosen the power of the warrior... You've given up the power of the mystic... Is this the form you choose?"**_

The young lombax once more raised a brow. "Hey, I think I can handle it myself," he answered, raising his left arm while his right one to his right side in a triumphant pose.

_**"...Very well then."**_

He suddenly felt something... dark, behind him. He turn on his heels, seeing the pedestal that once held the staff sinking into a puddle of dark ooze, the other two pedestals sharing the same fate. The platform he was on shook violently until large cracks appeared on it. He quickly backed up, though he was forced to go to the middle when he realized there was nowhere else to go.

Finally, the ground under him shattered, sending him plummeting into the darkness below.

As he fell... strange images appeared in his head.

_A young boy with blonde spiky hair looked around the place, his face in awe, before he noticed seven little men heading towards the mines._

He offered his hand to the young black haired girl, who looked uncertain and afraid of the dark forest around her.

He defended the girl from strange monsters as the two made their way through the forest, until they reached a clearing, where a small and humble cottage sits near the small river bed.

He handed a red apple to an ugly old hag, who gladly took it as she placed it on top of the different colored apples in her basket. To him, that seemed a bit… odd. And for some reason, he felt something off with this lady...

He blinked when the images have passed. _'What the...'_ The images looked so strange... and distorted. He couldn't hear any sound coming from those images, not even voices...

But before he could think more of it, he noticed a dark blue light shining behind him. He turned, squinting his eyes a little as he tried to look through the harsh light. But he did make out an image of a different maiden on it.

It was a young woman in a beautiful white dress, which seemed to make her blonde hair glow some more. She, too, looked like she was asleep (along with having short ears). His decent began to slow, which he used to righten himself a bit to land neatly onto the platform.

He took a quick glance around the platform, shifting his deep emerald green eyes around. Everything seemed quiet..._Too_ quiet.

Suddenly, he spotted strange, black globs on the ground. To his shock, the blobs suddenly came to life! They were huge ant-like monsters with stubby limbs, pointy feet, claws that looked sharp enough to cut a limb to shreds, and a large round head with two antennas. Yet what made him shudder are the glowing yellow eyes.

_**"There will be times you have to fight,"**_ the voice spoke up, _**"Keep your light burning strong."**_

He didn't need to be told twice.

The black... bugs inched closer to him, forcing him to back up-

Until he felt his heel at the edge of the platform. He took a quick glance behind him then back at the creatures. Narrowing his eyes, he got into defensive stance. Well, he's not going out without a fight! Powers or no powers!

Suddenly, he felt something... warm, in his right hand. Startled, he looked at his hand, seeing a faint white glow around it...

Until the sword he had chosen appeared in his hand. How did...?

He remembered the black monsters, looking at them then at the sword. He narrowed his eyes, and got into stance.

_**"You've gained the power to fight. Use this power to protect yourself, and others to come."**_

This time, he didn't speak up. Instead, he wearingly eyed the black things. He gazed at the nearest one, and charged, sword reared back. "This ´s over now!" He yelled as he approached the creature. He swung the sword, using the edge to slash through it. The strike stunned it, and he continued his attack. He did an uppercut with the pointy part of the sword and finished it by using the face of the sword to bash it away. The creature disappeared in a mist of darkness, bits of the darkness landing on the platform. And started to spread.

As the first one is destroyed, one of the others got over excited and tried to attack him. However, he quickly spotted it before using the face of the sword to block its claws and started to dispatch the rest, never noticing the bits of darkness landing on the platform and spreading. A few of them got lucky, landing a few hits on him; yet the injuries weren't too severe.

Soon, he had defeated all of them. And not even breaking a sweat, too!

He panted lightly, pulling some of his golden fur ears back a little. "Man... I guess training with a sword instead of a gun or gadget actually paid off," he said to himself. After this, he should give Grummelnet his thanks...

...Until he finally noticed the black splotches on the platform, spreading and covering the platform. Like last time, the young lombax was easily surrounded by the dark pools-

Suddenly, one appeared under him, and he immediately sink into it. In panic, he tried to get himself free, but the dark pool won't let up; as if it was like quicksand! It wasn't long until he was swallowed up by the darkness...

And with it... more images.

_A blue haired young woman walked into a brightly lit room her face in awe of the large room, a foyer she realized, she entered. Then she was startled when a young woman in a white dress ran by, a lean man holding a glass slipper chasing after her._

She walked on the red long carpet, into the ballroom, passing by a somewhat old woman followed by two other girls. Then she stopped and looked at the three females with a shocked look. For a moment...she felt something negative about them.

_She looked distraught after an old lady in a blue robe told her about something. She looked at her weapon, uncertain for what she should do._

She fired something blue at the blue monsters, defending what looked like a mouse wearing red clothes as he held onto a key for dear life.

Sitting in front of a fountain, she looked on as the blonde young woman embraced a young man wearing royal-type clothes, a smile on her face. The girl deserved her prince, after all she went through...But... her master always told her that darkness needed to be destroyed. But how? If not with light...?

...Slowly, slowly, the numbness he was in faded away. The feeling started from the tips of his toes, all the way to the top of his head. He twitched his fingers with a small groan before he opened his eyes, expecting to be back home...

...Unfortunately, he found himself on another platform. He sighed in annoyance. He pushed himself up from the ground, noticing his blue and silver sword not far from him. He went over to and picked it up, then looked over this new platform. Unlike the last two ones, this one is pink and it had three big hearts, each with a silhouette of a girl (all with short ears) not a single one looked like it shows anything about the girl, and they don't seem asleep...

He rubbed his arm a little, feeling a throb of pain from the attacks the creatures made at him. He was fortunate that they aren't as bad as they looked.

He suddenly looked at the edge of a platform, seeing an energy of sorts swirl around an area before fading, leaving behind a chest with a large keyhole in the middle. The young lombax approached it and, on an impulse, tapped it with his shield. Once it opened, revealing a small glass bottle containing a green substance with a blue star floating inside it. He picked it up from the chest, and tilted his head a bit. What is this stuff? It didn't look like Nanotech...

Curious, he shook the bottle a little. The blue star inside it suddenly dissolved, turning the liquid into a greenish-blue color. Startled, he looked over the bottle some more and found the label. It isn't in alien writing, yet... he could somehow read it.

shaking it a bit, for a quick use, merely toss it into the air. If using it on another person, say the name of the target after tossing it, if using on self, do NOT say a name after tossing.'

He once again raised a green brow. A potion? He looked over himself again, seeing the injuries he had gotten. He shrugged before he pulled the cork out. A few sparkles were released into the air around the opening a bit after opening, but he ignored it.

_'Well, Here goes nothing,'_ he thought humorlessly, and drank the 'potion'.

And he held out his tongue in disgust. "Bleh! That stuff tasted gross!"

However, he quickly noted his injuries are healing up, as if he never went into battle! "Woah..." He breathed out, amazed. That stuff was as effective as Nanotech! ...Despite the bitter taste. 'Next time, I'm going to toss the bottle into the air...' He made a mental note to himself.

The bottle he hand in his hand suddenly cracked, getting his attention and he watched as it disintegrated, its particles fading away in the air.

He felt a strange energy behind him. He turned just in time to see a door of sorts materializing above one the top heart. It looked majestic looking, the door in the color of pinkish-purple.

He looked around the platform, trying to see if there's a catch. There is none. Dropping his guard for a little bit, he approached the door. When he got close, the door suddenly opened on its own. The doors slowly opened, until it revealed a gray mosaic-like background beyond it. He looked behind the door, seeing nothing behind it, even within the doors on the other end.

Somewhat disturbed, he went back to the front of the door, into the gray mosaic background. He held up his hand and moved it to the inside of the door.

It went through it as the mosaic rippled a bit, like it was water. Startled, he pulled his hand back out, the mosaic rippling some more. He looked at his hand. Nothing had happened to it when he moved his hand through it.

Okay, it looked safe enough...

He nodded to himself before he walked into it. He phased through it like it was nothing. He looked around the new area. It was another platform, only this time, it was red-orange. The maiden has long, flowing blonde hair, wearing a blue dress (also with short ears), holding a rose close to her with lots of dark thorns behind her. She looked so young, yet... she looked so... beautiful-

He slapped himself. "Stop!," he told himself. He couldn't think about this! Although, Talwyn would look lovely in that dress-

_'STOP IT!'_ He mentally shouted in his head, holding it as he tried to get himself together.

After he had calmed himself a bit, he noticed that the door he entered through had disappeared. He grunted. He walked onto the platform, wearingly looking around for anything suspicious. When he got to the middle, though, he held his head as he was hit by more images.

_A young man with spiky earth brown hair walked over to a lake side in a forest. The place is very strange looking, quite unlike his home. But he wasn't here for sightseeing. He was here to find.  
After slaying the () he looked over the large, majestic castle at the end of the long stone bridge. Yet something felt... off with the castle. Nearby, he noticed someone with horns, wearing a black cloak. Something in him told him that this person is bad news, but maybe this person knew where () is. With that in mind, he approached the person-_

He suddenly found himself out of the strange dark void. However, he quickly noticed that the blonde maiden's skin is sickly white, as if… No! He turned to the woman…no, the witch, filled with horror. What did she made him do? Did he…oh no.

He looked over the limp young girl, feeling terrible. He couldn't believe he let that witch take control of him so easily! He swore that he'll get her heart and her light…back to her. But not the way he is now. Someday, when he bested the darkness within him, he will...

He shook his head lightly, trying to rid of himself of the images. What is going on? First a young blond kid, then a young woman with blue hair, and now, a guy with earth brown hair? What do these images mean?

But before he could look into this some more, the ant-creatures suddenly appeared and surrounded him. Acting quickly, he whipped out his sword and got into stance. "Does this ever end?" He groaned to himself.

He didn't get a reply, but he's willing to bring his frustration out on these things. After a lot of slashing, bashing, smashing (and a few punches and kicks to go with it), he defeated them all. When he fell the last one, however, he felt… something unlock within him...

As he tried to regain his breath, he tried to figure out this... phenomenon he just experienced. 'What WAS that?' He asked himself, looking over himself.

**An ability, Ratchet...** A bodiless voice answered, startling him. He looked around wildly for the source. Yet there's none. The voice sounded familiar though.

'It couldn't be... could it...?' He thought, 'But how can that be? He's... He's gone. Several years ago...'

He felt his heart ache a bit, frowning when an image of him - of his father´s best friend - appeared in his head. He gripped the front of his armor, taking in a shuddering breath, trying to calm himself. Yet he wasn't able to stop a stray tear from going down his cheek.

His ears picked up a curious sound. Like... a little bell ringing. He quickly looked towards the source, seeing stain-glass staircase forming, all the way to the next platform, which shined in a soft golden-yellow light.

**Be careful, Ratchet,** the voice warned him, **What lies ahead is your final challenge. But you must beware: the closer you are to the light, the more powerful your shadow becomes...**

Light? Shadow? What did the voice mean? Yet it disappeared before he could ask.

He made an annoyed sighed again, but shook his head and went to the staircase. After pressing his foot down onto the first step to test it, he confirmed that it's safe to walk on. Assured by this, he climbed the glass-stained steps towards his next (and hopefully last) destination.

A mighty crack boomed into the air, making him flinch. Turning back, he watched as the red-orange platform he was on shattered to a million pieces...

And the steps he had walked on previously stared to crack, too. "CRAP!" He shouted and broke into a run. He didn't look back, because he knew the steps behind him are shattering, falling into the dark abyss below him. He almost fell over his feet a few times, but, when he got to the last step, he took the leap of faith...

...And tumbled onto the ground, just as the last step shattered to pieces. Never to be seen again.

After a few moments, he picked himself up, looking at where the steps used to be. He sighed. Well, no turning back now...

Pushing himself to stand, he looked over the last platform. It was another female in a yellow dress, which seemed to match her brown hair; and like the last few platforms, she is also asleep. Seriously, what is it with these short eared females? Yet, behind her... is what resembled a large brown beast, with horns and everything.

He walked to the center of the platform, scratching his head a bit with a raised brow. Then looked around. "This is his 'final challenge' right? So... what exactly is it?"

_**"Son of Kaden,"**_ the first voice from before spoke up, prompting him to look up at the sky, _**"Prepare yourself as you face your fiercest enemy..."**_

_"Fiercest enemy? Who's that?" _ He mentally asked. Suddenly, he felt something... _dark_ behind him. But not the kind of darkness he knew...

He turned on his heel, to the source-

Seeing nothing. That was strange... He thought he felt something.

There's nothing but darkness, and his own shadow... wait... Is it just him or is his shadow growing _larger_? The 'shadow' suddenly turned as if it was standing straight. Then it suddenly came to life, rising from the ground!

"Whoa, _no_!" He cursed out, jumping back in surprise when his shadow stood menacingly over him. It looked over him with a grin he knew all too well, glaring at him with gleaming yellow eyes, filled with hate. He could do nothing but watch, with wide eyes, as the large "shadow" started to transform into a large humanoid being with wavy, snake-like hair wearing some sort of "clothe" around its mouth and collar bone, a pair of small "wings" on its back and a giant cut out heart on its stomach.

After it was done transforming, he stared dumbly at it. "Oh," he said, "So that's my fiercest enemy..."

**Do not show fear, even at the face of this being,** the voice told him. **And never forget...**

His emerald green eyes widened a small bit. That voice...

He narrowed his eyes and nodded, feeling assured. Sword in hand, he got into stance, ready for what it might throw at him. "Bring it on!"

The battle began when the large behemoth threw a giant punch at him. He rolled out of the way, the fist making an impact onto the ground - and seemed to _sink_ into the ground, where the upper wrist is only shown. From around it, the small shadows emerged from the large dark puddle around where the fist was. The young lombax attacked the shadows first, before moving on to damage the larger monster's arm.

When the monster started to move its hand out of the ground, the young lombax was struck with an idea. He quickly jumped high and gripped onto one of its fingers, and was left dangling for a bit. The behemoth spotted the young lombax and tried to shake him off; he quickly shifted his body to grip the finger with both his arms and even his legs to hold on. The black giant spotted him on its hand, the blonde creature looking up at the giant as it raised its hand to smash him.

**MOVE!** The voice barked, momentarily snapping him back to attention; making him quickly roll away from other hand.

He then ran along the other arm, quickly jumping over the hand as it tried to swat him away until he reached the head, raining combos upon it. However, he only landed a few hits before the creature, while growling in pain and in anger, grabbed him before throwing him to the ground. He cried out in pain as he rolled onto the ground painfully before coming to a stop, dangerously near the edge. He pushed himself up, shook his head lightly and pushed himself up on unsteady legs before he picked up his sword.

Just as the creature was getting on its knees where some... energy is formed within the heart-shaped cut-out hole, and... literally shot out energy beams.

**Block it!** The voice told him. He blinked before he did as the voice said, holding up the face of the sword.

Just as the orb projectile hit some sort of... energy shield in front of the sword, literally deflected back to the sender... and smacking head on onto its head, causing it to screech in pain. As the creature groaned, holding its face, the young lombax smirked haughtily. _"Too easy!"_

However, he thought too soon, because the next moment, it suddenly lashed out faster than he could register - smacking him to the ground. Caught off guard, he cried out in pain, releasing his sword as a result, and the weapon clattered far from him before it faded away in stream-like energy of light. Disoriented, he tried to push himself up.

Until the monster pinned him down with its large hand, crying out in pain and surprise. He struggles violently against the grip, even trying to free his arms to see if he could try to pry them off. However, he quickly noticed a pool of darkness appearing under him. In panic, he renewed his thrashing.

_**"…But don't be afraid,"**_ the voice faintly whispered.

Small, black hands emerged from the pool and grabbed parts of his body, as they all tried to drag him into it.

_**"You hold the mightiest weapon of all..."**_

Most of his body was slowly into the pool. His struggle began to wane. It was becoming hard to see clearly. He could hardly breathe...

_**"So don't forget:"**_

The last thing he saw, before the darkness completely took him, was the ominous yellow glow of the monster's eyes.

_**"You are the one… who will help the chosen one open the door."**_

And the young lombax, Ratchet, knew nothing as the darkness consumed him in its embrace...

…

"**CLANK!"**

"**ANYBODY!"**

"_**HELP!"**_

Ratchet was try his best to keep calling for help, but with no response. He struggles desperately to escape the darkness, even it is too strong to hold him back.

"**Who am I kidding. It´s no use!"** he thought sadly, almost to give up. As he reach his right hand while the darkness almost swallowing him, suddenly, another hand came out of nowhere, this time, this one wears a chess like-patterned bracelet. It is grabbing Ratchet´s hand, pulling him off to save his life, and a flash of bright light came.

When Ratchet opened his eyes again, he was laying on ground of the another stained glass. He getting back up to his feet and begin to look at the glass floor for analyzing.

This one was emerald green in color and revolving around a boy, who has blond spiky hair and wears a metallic green piece of armor attacked to his shoulder, matching metal shoes, a silver symbol on his chest and he was holding an oddly shaped grey and gold weapon, which is looks like a key being held in reverse. Ratchet recognized him as the boy from the images. The pictures surrounding his head was a young woman with short blue hair, a young man with dark brown hair, a young boy with small spiky brown hair and a mouse. The background appeared to be some kind of wasteland.

"**That guy…do I know him before?" **Ratchet whispered, wanted to know about the boy of this stained glass. **"I wish Clank was here, so he can solve this, I think."**

"…_**He is one of those people who are hurting." **_The voice came back, which starlets Ratchet a little.

"…_**You must begin your next journey and help the chosen one to save those people, who are connecting both of your hearts."**_

"**My heart? What that´s supposed to mean?" **Ratchet questioned, while touching his chest and feel his heart. When suddenly, the boy from the stained glass appeared out of nowhere_**. **_As he turn around to face Ratchet, he smiled at him, which turn Ratchet´s face into confusing look. Everything was black now.

"**Who are you?"**

"**KADEN!"**

…

"**WHOA!" **Ratchet woke up with wide eyes open and found himself in the familiar warm, cluttered space of his bedroom on Apogee Space Station. The reason why he is here because his markazian friend, Talwyn Apogee has invited him and Clank to live there in Polaris Galaxy due to Artemis Zogg´s kidnapping the planets of the Solana Galaxy.

The lombax was lying in his warm bed with light blue covers pushed down to the bottom of the bed along with huge window next to him that he can see billions of stars in this sector. Ratchet looked down at himself and saw that he was no longer wearing his pilot suit, instead was dressed a white shirt and light blue pants.

He glanced over his bed and saw his long-time best friend, a robot by the name of XJ-0461, but the universe known him as Clank.

Clank is still asleep in Ratchet´s bed next to him, wearing his dark blue nightcap. Interesting. No wonder robots can asleep. Of course, as a robot, they need a battery charge with their wireless cable so their energies will be infinity, like a machine. Thus, it creates a sleep function for them, at least.

Clank was snuggled up next to him, even curling up a little. Ratchet brought him closer to him for extra warmth. Even deep in sleep, Clank reacted with a smile. Ratchet smiled warmly and stroked his head. Hopefully, the sight of his friend safe and sound would help him get his sleep back.

Unbeknownst to them, outside of their window, appears a glowing 'green' star streamed across the galaxy, wonder what could it be…or who.

...

(Jak)

Falling… falling… falling through what seemed like the sky, soaring past memories of his life… Meeting his friends… Encountering dangers a lone person couldn't possibly face alone… And… of his…

No. He…he can't think about that. Not now…

However, he realized that he couldn't open his eyes. Or even move! Still… something kept him from panicking as though… this was… natural. Suddenly, he felt his head hit water. He continued to fall as though he was still soaring through the air. As he neared the rapidly approaching ground, he began to slow. Then, the force of gravity made his lower body fall, to make it as though he's floating on his back, rather than falling head first.

As it did, he slowly opened his eyes, and automatically took a deep breath. That made him do a take in surprise. He could… He could breathe… underwater? How is that possible?

When he thought of that, his body righted itself so that he landed on something, his boots making contact with something… metallic?

Blinking again, he looked around the area he was in. He was standing on a strange black surface, all around him, there was nothing but darkness. But… not the kind of darkness he was forced onto, or the darkness most people associate with. Without thinking, he took a step.

And had to cover his eyes with a groan as a bright flash of light illuminated under him. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light, he looked on in awe as thousands of doves flew around him and towards the sky, never to be seen again, leaving a few of their pure white feathers behind...

After watching the doves for a bit, he looked down at the ground below him. It was a large circular, stained-glass platform. Upon it, with the platform colored in a shade of light to yellow-green, lay an image of a pretty young woman eating an apple. Her hair is the color of ebony, her skin as white as snow, and seemed to be wearing a dress… like a princess. Yet what seemed strange about her – other than the fact that she seemed asleep – was that her ears are short. Really short.

Before he could think about what was going on, a voice... suddenly spoke to him.

_**"So much to do… So little time…"**_ it said. _**"Take your time… Don't be afraid…"**_

That comment made him raise a green brow. '_Afraid? Afraid of what, exactly?'_

A shaft of light suddenly shined in the middle of the platform, catching his attention. _**"The door is still shut… Now, step forward. Can you do it?"**_

He frowned. Something suspicious is going on here… What's this whole business about a... door?

Deciding to humor the voice, he did what it asked him to do, walking to the middle of the platform. When he did, however, he realized with a start that his Precursor armor isn't on. He wore the clothes he had been wearing since he was banished into the Wastelands, and while he was in Spargus...

He heard rumbling, the ground under him shaking a little. Before he could get into a defensive stance, a pedestal to his right rose up, and a shield appeared. _**"Power sleeps within you..."**_

A pedestal to his left rose up, a staff appearing this time. _**"If you give it form..."**_

A pedestal in front of him rose up, and a sword appeared, all three weapons floating, as if they're suspended in mid-air. _**"It will give you strength..."**_ The voice explained.

He gazed over the three weapons over the pedestals. The common thing all three of them shared is that they had, are strange 3-circled insignia that resembles a mouse's head…

_**"Choose well, Heir of Mar..."**_

"What?" He spoke up for the first time since coming here, startled. "Hey, how do you know I'm a Heir of Mar?" He demanded, trying to look for the source.

Yet it seemed the voice is gone. The young man groaned. He looked at the weapons once more. What did the voice mean by 'choose'? Did it want him to pick a weapon?

He slowly went over to the sword first, gripping the hilt as he laid the blade onto the palm of his other hand. The moment he did, he felt… _stronger... braver..._

_**"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?"**_

The invincible courage part sounded cool (and maybe to Daxter as well), but the part about destruction made him think of others that had fallen towards the madness that power brings. He looked at the sword one more time before shaking his head, releasing the sword, letting it suspended in mid-air once more.

He went over to the shield this time, grabbing the edges as he looked over the handle at the back of it. From the shield he felt a strong desire to protect and felt… _kinder._

_**"The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?"**_

Guardian, huh? Well... he was pretty good at protecting anyone he could. Even if…

No. He couldn't think about that.

He gripped the handle and made a few practice strokes with it. He grinned as he held up the shield again. "Yeah, I think this will do."

The shield in his hand suddenly vanished, taking him by surprise. Yet... he felt that it became a part of him.

_**"Your path is set. Now, what will you give up in exchange?"**_ The voice asked.

He immediately looked over at the staff. Jogging over to it, he plucked the staff from the pedestal. He became _smarter... wiser..._

_**"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Will you give up this power?"**_

Mystic? As in a "magic"? Well, he was never one to use 'magic', although, channeling Eco is different...

So he answered, "Yeah." The staff suddenly had a lot of cracks on it before it seemed to fade away, taking the young man by surprise. When it did, a part of him also faded away...

_**"You have chosen the power of the guardian... You've given up the power of the mystic... Is this the form you choose?"**_

The young man once more raised a brow. "Hey, I think I can handle what you can throw at me," he answered, crossing his arms.

_**"...Very well then."**_

He suddenly felt something... dark, behind him. He turn on his heels, seeing the pedestal that once held the staff sinking into a puddle of dark ooze, the other two pedestals sharing the same fate. The platform he was on shook violently until large cracks appeared on it. He quickly backed up, though he was forced to go to the middle when he realized there was nowhere else to go.

Finally, the ground under him shattered, sending him plummeting into the darkness below.

As he fell... strange images appeared in his head.

_A young boy with blonde spiky hair looked around the place, his face in awe, before he noticed seven little men heading towards the mines._

He offered his hand to the young black haired girl, who looked uncertain and afraid of the dark forest around her.

He defended the girl from strange monsters as the two made their way through the forest, until they reached a clearing, where a small and humble cottage sits near the small river bed.

He handed a red apple to an ugly old hag, who gladly took it as she placed it on top of the different colored apples in her basket. To him, that seemed a bit… odd. And for some reason, he felt something off with this lady...

He blinked when the images have passed. _'What the...'_ The images looked so strange... and distorted. He couldn't hear any sound coming from those images, not even voices...

But before he could think more of it, he noticed a dark blue light shining behind him. He turned, squinting his eyes a little as he tried to look through the harsh light. But he did make out an image of a different maiden on it.

It was a young woman in a beautiful white dress, which seemed to make her blonde hair glow some more. She, too, looked like she was asleep (along with having short ears). His decent began to slow, which he used to righten himself a bit to land neatly onto the platform.

He took a quick glance around the platform, shifting his deep cobalt blue eyes around. Everything seemed quiet... _Too_ quiet.

Suddenly, he spotted strange, black globs on the ground. To his shock, the blobs suddenly came to life! They were huge ant-like monsters with stubby limbs, pointy feet, claws that looked sharp enough to cut a limb to shreds, and a large round head with two antennas. Yet what made him shudder are the glowing yellow eyes. Reminding him too much of the Metal-Heads.

_**"There will be times you have to fight,"**_ the voice spoke up, _**"Keep your light burning strong."**_

He didn't need to be told twice. He grinned savagely as he called upon his Dark form to face against these creatures. Violet electricity sparked around him…

And immediately faded out. "What...?" He breathed out, looking over himself in shock. He tried again. Yet the same result.

What was going on? Why couldn't he use his Dark form?

The black... bugs inched closer to him, forcing him to back up…

Until he felt his heel at the edge of the platform. He took a quick glance behind him then back at the creatures. Narrowing his eyes, he got into defensive stance. Well, he's not going out without a fight! Powers or no powers!

Suddenly, he felt something... warm, in his right hand. Startled, he looked at his hand, seeing a faint white glow around it...

Until the shield he had chosen appeared in his hand. How did...?

He remembered the black monsters, looking at them then at the shield. He narrowed his eyes, and got into stance.

_**"You've gained the power to fight. Use this power to protect yourself, and others to come."**_

This time, he didn't speak up. Instead, he wearingly eyed the black things. A wise man once told him to be patient, rather than rush into stuff head first. He gazed at the nearest one, and charged, shield reared back. "Back off!" He yelled as he approached the creature. He swung the shield, using the edge to slash through it. The strike stunned it, and he continued his attack. He did an uppercut with the pointy part of the shield and finished it by using the face of the shield to bash it away. The creature disappeared in a mist of darkness, bits of the darkness landing on the platform. And started to spread.

As the first one is destroyed, one of the others got over excited and tried to attack him. However, he quickly spotted it before using the face of the shield to block its claws and started to dispatch the rest, never noticing the bits of darkness landing on the platform and spreading. A few of them got lucky, landing a few hits on him; yet the injuries weren't too severe.

Soon, he had defeated all of them. And not even breaking a sweat, too!

He panted lightly, pulling some of his green/blonde hair back a little. "Man... I guess training with a weapon instead of a gun actually paid off," he said to himself. After this, he should give Sig his thanks...

...Until he finally noticed the black splotches on the platform, spreading and covering the platform. Like last time, the young man was easily surrounded by the dark pools-

Suddenly, one appeared under him, and he immediately sink into it. In panic, he tried to get himself free, but the dark pool won't let up, as if it was like quicksand! It wasn't long until he was swallowed up by the darkness...

And with it... more images.

_A blue haired young woman walked into a brightly lit room her face in awe of the large room, a foyer she realized…she entered. Then she was startled when a young woman in a white dress ran by, a lean man holding a glass slipper chasing after her._

She walked on the red long carpet, into the ballroom, passing by a somewhat old woman followed by two other girls. Then she stopped and looked at the three females with a shocked look. For a moment... she felt something negative about them.

She looked distraught after an old lady in a blue robe told her about something. She looked at her weapon, uncertain for what she should do.

She fired something blue at the blue monsters, defending what looked like a mouse wearing red clothes as he held onto a key for dear life.

Sitting in front of a fountain, she looked on as the blonde young woman embraced a young man wearing royal-type clothes, a smile on her face. The girl deserved her prince, after all she went through...But...her master always told her that darkness needed to be destroyed. But how? If not with light...?

...Slowly, slowly, the numbness he was in faded away. The feeling started from the tips of his toes, all the way to the top of his head. He twitched his fingers with a small groan before he opened his eyes, expecting to be back home...

...Unfortunately, he found himself on another platform. He groaned in annoyance, slamming his fist onto the ground. He pushed himself up from the ground, noticing his black and red shield not far from him. He went over to and picked it up, then looked over this new platform. Unlike the last two ones, this one is pink and it had three big hearts, each with a silhouette of a girl (all with short ears) not a single one looked like it shows anything about the girl, and they don't seem asleep...

He rubbed his arm a little, feeling a throb of pain from the attacks the creatures made at him. He was fortunate that they aren't as bad as they looked.

He suddenly looked at the edge of a platform, seeing an energy of sorts swirl around an area before fading, leaving behind a chest with a large keyhole in the middle. The young man approached it and, on an impulse, tapped it with his shield. Once. It opened, revealing a small glass bottle containing a green substance with a blue star floating inside it. He picked it up from the chest, and tilted his head a bit. What is this stuff? It didn't look like Green Eco...

Curious, he shook the bottle a little. The blue star inside it suddenly dissolved, turning the liquid into a greenish-blue color. Startled, he looked over the bottle some more and found the label. It isn't in Precursor writing, yet... he could somehow read it.

"Potion: Heals minor to moderate injuries. For effective use, drink the bottle after shaking it a bit, for a quick use, merely toss it into the air. If using it on another person, say the name of the target after tossing it, if using on self, do NOT say a name after tossing."

He once again raised a green brow. A potion? He looked over himself again, seeing the injuries he had gotten. He shrugged before he pulled the cork out. A few sparkles were released into the air around the opening a bit after opening, but he ignored it.

_'Well, bottom's up,'_ he thought humorlessly, and drank the "potion".

And he held out his tongue in disgust. "Bleh!" He 'said'. That stuff tasted bitter!

However, he quickly noted his injuries are healing up, as if he never went into battle! "Woah..." He breathed out, amazed. That stuff was as effective as Green Eco! ...Despite the bitter taste. "Next time, I'm going to toss the bottle into the air..." He made a mental note to himself.

The bottle he hand in his hand suddenly cracked, getting his attention and he watched as it disintegrated, its particles fading away in the air.

He felt a strange energy behind him. He turned just in time to see a door of sorts materializing above one the top heart. It looked majestic looking, the door in the color of pinkish-purple.

He looked around the platform, trying to see if there's a catch. There is none. Dropping his guard for a little bit, he approached the door. When he got close, the door suddenly opened on its own. The doors slowly opened, until it revealed a gray mosaic-like background beyond it. He looked behind the door, seeing nothing behind it, even within the doors on the other end.

Somewhat disturbed, he went back to the front of the door, into the gray mosaic background. He held up his hand and moved it to the inside of the door.

It went through it as the mosaic rippled a bit, like it was water. Startled, he pulled his hand back out, the mosaic rippling some more. He looked at his hand. Nothing had happened to it when he moved his hand through it.

Okay, it looked safe enough...

He nodded to himself before he walked into it. He phased through it like it was nothing. He looked around the new area. It was another platform, only this time, it was red-orange. The maiden has long, flowing blonde hair, wearing a blue dress (also with short ears), holding a rose close to her with lots of dark thorns behind her. She looked so young, yet... she looked so... beautiful-

He slapped himself. "Knock it off," he told himself. He couldn't think about this! Although, Keira would look lovely in that dress-

_'STOP IT!'_ He mentally shouted in his head, holding it as he tried to get himself together.

After he had calmed himself a bit, he noticed that the door he entered through had disappeared. He grunted. He walked onto the platform, wearingly looking around for anything suspicious. When he got to the middle, though, he held his head as he was hit by more images.

_A young man with spiky earth brown hair walked over to a lake side in a forest. The place is very strange looking, quite unlike his home. But he wasn't here for sightseeing. He was here to find something._

After slaying the () he looked over the large, majestic castle at the end of the long stone bridge. Yet something felt... off with the castle. Nearby, he noticed someone with horns, wearing a black cloak. Something in him told him that this person is bad news, but maybe this person knew where () is. With that in mind, he approached the person.

He suddenly found himself out of the strange dark void. However, he quickly noticed that the blonde maiden's skin is sickly white, as if… No! He turned to the woman- no, the witch, filled with horror. What did she made him do? Did he…oh god, no!

He looked over the limp young girl, feeling terrible. He couldn't believe he let that witch take control of him so easily! He swore that he'll get her heart and her light...back to her. But not the way he is now. Someday, when he bested the darkness within him, he will...

He shook his head lightly, trying to rid of himself of the images. What is going on? First a young blond kid, then a young woman with blue hair, and now, a guy with earth brown hair? What do these images mean?

But before he could look into this some more, the ant-creatures suddenly appeared and surrounded him. Acting quickly, he whipped out his shield and got into stance. "Does this ever end?" He groaned to himself.

He didn't get a reply, but he's willing to bring his frustration out on these things. After a lot of slashing, bashing, smashing (and a few punches and kicks to go with it), he defeated them all. When he fell the last one, however, he felt… something unlock within him...

As he tried to regain his breath, he tried to figure out this... phenomenon he just experienced. 'What WAS that?' He asked himself, looking over himself.

**An ability, Jak...** A bodiless voice answered, startling him. He looked around wildly for the source. Yet there's none. The voice sounded familiar though.

"It couldn't be... could it...?" He thought, "But how can that be? He's... He's gone. Several months ago..."

He felt his heart ache a bit, frowning when an image of him …of his father…appeared in his head. He gripped the front of his tunic, taking in a shuddering breath, trying to calm himself. Yet he wasn't able to stop a stray tear from going down his cheek.

His ears picked up a curious sound. Like... a little bell ringing. He quickly looked towards the source, seeing stain-glass staircase forming, all the way to the next platform, which shined in a soft golden-yellow light.

**Be careful, Jak,** the voice warned him, **What lies ahead is your final challenge. But you must beware: the closer you are to the light, the more powerful your shadow becomes...**

Light? Shadow? What did the voice mean? Yet it disappeared before he could ask.

He made an annoyed groan, but shook his head and went to the staircase. After pressing his foot down onto the first step to test it, he confirmed that it's safe to walk on. Assured by this, he climbed the glass-stained steps towards his next (and hopefully last) destination.

A mighty crack boomed into the air, making him flinch. Turning back, he watched as the red-orange platform he was on shattered to a million pieces...

And the steps he had walked on previously stared to crack, too. "CRAP!" He shouted and broke into a run. He didn't look back, because he knew the steps behind him are shattering, falling into the dark abyss below him. He almost fell over his feet a few times, but, when he got to the last step, he took the leap of faith...

...And tumbled onto the ground, just as the last step shattered to pieces. Never to be seen again.

After a few moments, he picked himself up, looking at where the steps used to be. He sighed. Well, no turning back now...

Pushing himself to stand, he looked over the last platform. It was another female in a yellow dress, which seemed to match her brown hair; and like the last few platforms, she is also asleep. Seriously, what is it with these short eared females? Yet, behind her... is what resembled a large brown beast, with horns and everything.

He walked to the center of the platform, scratching his head a bit with a raised brow. Then looked around. "This is his 'final challenge' right? So... what exactly is it?"

_**"Heir of Mar,"**_ the first voice from before spoke up, prompting him to look up at the sky, _**"Prepare yourself as you face your fiercest enemy..."**_

_"Fiercest enemy? Who's that?" _ He mentally asked. Suddenly, he felt something... _dark_ behind him. But not the kind of darkness he knew...

He turned on his heel, to the source-

Seeing nothing. That was strange... He thought he felt something.

There's nothing but darkness, and his own shadow... Wait... Is it just him or is his shadow growing _larger_? The "shadow" suddenly turned as if it was standing straight. Then it suddenly came to life, rising from the ground!

"Whoa, _no_!" He cursed out, jumping back in surprise when his shadow stood menacingly over him. It looked over him with a grin he knew all too well, glaring at him with gleaming yellow eyes, filled with hate. He could do nothing but watch, with wide eyes, as the large "shadow" started to transform into a large humanoid being with wavy, snake-like hair wearing some sort of "clothe" around its mouth and collar bone, a pair of small 'wings' on its back and a giant cut out heart on its stomach.

After it was done transforming, he stared dumbly at it. "Oh," he said, "So that's my fiercest enemy..."

**Do not show fear, even at the face of this being,** the voice told him. **And never forget...**

His cobalt blue eyes widened a small bit. That voice...

He narrowed his eyes and nodded, feeling assured. Shield in hand, he got into stance, ready for what it might throw at him. "Bring it!"

The battle began when the large behemoth threw a giant punch at him. He rolled out of the way, the fist making an impact onto the ground - and seemed to _sink_ into the ground, where the upper wrist is only shown. From around it, the small shadows emerged from the large dark puddle around where the fist was. The young man attacked the shadows first, before moving on to damage the larger monster's arm.

When the monster started to move its hand out of the ground, the young man was struck with an idea. He quickly jumped high and gripped onto one of its fingers, and was left dangling for a bit. The behemoth spotted the young man and tried to shake him off; he quickly shifted his body to grip the finger with both his arms and even his legs to hold on. The black giant spotted him on its hand, the green/blonde looking up at the giant as it raised its hand to smash him.

**MOVE!** The voice barked, momentarily snapping him back to attention; making him quickly roll away from other hand.

He then ran along the other arm, quickly jumping over the hand as it tried to swat him away until he reached the head, raining combos upon it. However, he only landed a few hits before the creature, while growling in pain and in anger, grabbed him before throwing him to the ground. He cried out in pain as he rolled onto the ground painfully before coming to a stop, dangerously near the edge. He pushed himself up, shook his head lightly and pushed himself up on unsteady legs before he picked up his shield.

Just as the creature was getting on its knees where some... energy is formed within the heart-shaped cut-out hole, and... literally shot out energy beams.

**Block it!** The voice told him. He blinked before he did as the voice said, holding up the face of the shield-

Just as the orb projectile hit some sort of... energy shield in front of the shield, literally deflected back to the sender... and smacking head on onto its head, causing it to screech in pain. As the creature groaned, holding its face, the young man smirked haughtily. _"Too easy!"_

However, he thought too soon, because the next moment, it suddenly lashed out - faster than he could register, smacking him to the ground. Caught off guard, he cried out in pain, releasing his shield as a result, and the weapon clattered far from him before it faded away in stream-like energy of light. Disoriented, he tried to push himself up.

Until the monster pinned him down with its large hand, crying out in pain and surprise. He struggles violently against the grip, even trying to free his arms to see if he could try to pry them off. However, he quickly noticed a pool of darkness appearing under him. In panic, he renewed his thrashing.

_**"…But don't be afraid,"**_ the voice faintly whispered.

Small, black hands emerged from the pool and grabbed parts of his body, as they all tried to drag him into it.

_**"You hold the mightiest weapon of all..."**_

Most of his body was slowly into the pool. His struggle began to wane. It was becoming hard to see clearly. He could hardly breathe...

_**"So don't forget:"**_

The last thing he saw, before the darkness completely took him, was the ominous yellow glow of the monster's eyes.

_**"You are the one… who will help the chosen one open the door."**_

And the young man, Jak, knew nothing as the darkness consumed him in its embrace...

…

"**DAXTER!"**

"**SAMOS!"**

"_**KEIRA!"**_

"_**HELP!"**_

Jak was try his best to keep calling for help, but with no response. He struggles desperately to escape the darkness, even it is too strong to hold him back, similar due to dark eco.

"**Help…me."** he thought sadly, almost to give up. As he reach his right hand while the darkness almost swallowing him, suddenly, another hand came out of nowhere, this time, this one wears an armor for one arm in color of arge, ornate crest (colored gold) and the long, segmented section (each segment alternating between dark grey and dark red). He also wears a black, fingerless glove on his hand and what appears to be a black gauntlet on his forearm, over the segmented armor, which also has small pieces of dark red armor on it. It is grabbing Jak´s hand, pulling him off to save his life, and a flash of bright light came.

When Jak opened his eyes again, he was laying on ground of the another stained glass. He is getting back up to his feet and begin to look at the glass floor.

This one was orange in color and revolving around a man, who has dark brown hair and wears a two intersecting straps over his chest, though his red ones are rather different, dropping much lower down and almost resembling criss-crossed suspenders. The man does not wear his badge (which is gold as opposed to the others' silver) on these straps. Instead, he wears it on his belt. He wears a skintight, black, high-collared shirt, showing that he is rather muscular.

The man's pants bear a distinct feudal Japanese style, his belt is tied like an obi-sash and he wears hakama (traditional samurai pants distinguished by the large pleats). His hakama are dark grey near the top, with several loops for his belt and two buttons, both of which are undone. The rest of the pants are tan with a small, lighter stripe of tan on the bottom hem. The man wears a plain black wristband on his right arm, while his left arm is significantly more armored.

The man wears armor on one arm. His armor shares the large, ornate crest (colored gold) and the long, segmented section (each segment alternating between dark grey and dark red), though the man's is much longer, reaching all the way to the bottom of his hand. He also wears a black, fingerless glove on his hand and what appears to be a black gauntlet on his forearm, over the segmented armor, which also has small pieces of dark red armor on it. Finally, his armored boots are dark brown and gold

and he was holding an oddly shaped light brown and blue-green weapon, which is looks like a key being held in reverse.

Jak recognized him as the man from the images. The pictures surrounding his head was a young woman with short blue hair, a young boy with spiky blond hair, a young boy with small gray hair and a mouse. The background appeared to be some kind of wasteland.

"**That guy…do I know him?" **Jak whispered, wanted to know about the boy of this stained glass.

"…_**He is one of those people who are hurting." **_The voice came back, which starlets Jak a little.

"…_**You must begin your next journey and help the chosen one to save those people, who are connecting both of your hearts."**_

"**My heart?" **Jak questioned, while touching his chest and feel his heart. **"What has something to do about it?" **When suddenly, the man from the stained glass appeared out of nowhere_**. **_As he turn around to face Jak, he smiled at him, which turn Jak´s face into confusing look. But then, his face turns into a concerned look because he spots the man´s skin becoming white to tanned one, his hair turns into silver and his eyes were yellow and finally, his teeth grows a little sharper, in which, kind of scares Jak a little bit. The reason why he is transforming is because of those dark rings surrounding his body before it´s faded out.

Everything is black now.

"**Who are you?"**

…

"**AH!" **Jak gasped. His eyes shot open and getting up from his bed while laying on it. He was breathing hard and looking around, noticing the cold sweat on his body. He found himself in the familiar warm, dark cluttered space of his bedroom on Haven City´s apartment.

The young hero was lying in his warm bed with light brown covers pushed down to the bottom of the bed along with a rectangle window with light brown curtains which matches the bed, and it was opened, which it gives the city view at night for Jak.

Jak looked down at himself and saw that he was no longer wearing his former outfit, instead he was shirtless, although inside his bed´s blanket, he is wearing blue boxers. He sighed when he realized he was safe.

That it is until, a loud noise appears which starlets Jak. A noise that it is so loud that sounds like a chainsaw, or worse…an annoying 'animal'.

He glanced over his bed and saw his long-time best friend, an ottsel by the name of Daxter, snoring. Yes. Daxter was asleep, laying on the bed around like a lazy person, as always.

He was right next to his best friend, Jak in his bed. His snoring sounds like an encroaching storm in the adjacent room.

Jak can´t helped but smirks and burst into a chuckle. Jak whispers to Daxter quietly. **"Where would you be without me, eh Dax?"**

"**Oh! That green bikini sure looks good on you, baby!" **Daxter spoke, dreaming about some girl wearing some swimsuit in his daydream. After all, he is Daxter.

Daxter may be the rudest, loudmouth, obnoxious creature you could ever meet. But alas, he is determined and loyal to Jak. As you can see, Daxter wouldn´t last a second without him.

As Jak glanced back to his window, he wondered in worry tone. **"These recurring nightmares are really starting to worry me…"**

Indeed, a strange dream like that needs to be answered. Why are those stained glasses represented all four ladies? Who are those strange black creatures and one giant? Why for all those three weapons? Who are those three people from the flashback? And why the man with dark brown hair has something to do with Jak?

And so, the young elf tuck himself in, head back to sleep gently and relaxed.

Unbeknownst to them, outside of his window, appears a glowing 'orange' star streamed across the night sky, wonder what could it be…or who.

...

(Sly)

Falling… falling… falling through what seemed like the sky, soaring past memories of his life… Meeting his friends… Encountering dangers a lone person couldn't possibly face alone… And… of his…

No. He…he can't think about that. Not now…

However, he realized that he couldn't open his eyes. Or even move! Still… something kept him from panicking as though… this was… natural. Suddenly, he felt his head hit water. He continued to fall as though he was still soaring through the air. As he neared the rapidly approaching ground, he began to slow. Then, the force of gravity made his lower body fall, to make it as though he's floating on his back, rather than falling head first.

As it did, he slowly opened his eyes, and automatically took a deep breath. That made him do a take in surprise. He could…He could breathe…underwater? How is that possible?

When he thought of that, his body righted itself so that he landed on something, his brown boots making contact with something…metallic?

Blinking again, he looked around the area he was in. He was standing on a strange black surface, all around him, there was nothing but darkness. But…not the kind of darkness he was forced onto, or the darkness most people associate with. Without thinking, he took a step.

And had to cover his eyes with a groan as a bright flash of light illuminated under him. Once his eyes had adjusted to the light, he looked on in awe as thousands of doves flew around him and towards the sky, never to be seen again, leaving a few of their pure white feathers behind...

After watching the doves for a bit, he looked down at the ground below him. It was a large circular, stained-glass platform. Upon it, with the platform colored in a shade of light to yellow-green, lay an image of a pretty young woman eating an apple. Her hair is the color of ebony, her skin as white as snow, and seemed to be wearing a dress… like a princess. Yet what seemed strange about her – other than the fact that she seemed asleep – was that her ears are short. Really short.

Before he could think about what was going on, a voice... suddenly spoke to him.

_**"So much to do… So little time…"**_ it said. _**"Take your time… Don't be afraid…"**_

That comment made him raise a green brow. '_Afraid? Afraid of what, exactly?'_

A shaft of light suddenly shined in the middle of the platform, catching his attention. _**"The door is still shut… Now, step forward. Can you do it?"**_

He frowned. Something suspicious is going on here… What's this whole business

about a... door?

Deciding to humor the voice, he did what it asked him to do, walking to the middle of the platform.

He heard rumbling, the ground under him shaking a little. Before he could get into a defensive stance, a pedestal to his right rose up, and a shield appeared. _**"Power sleeps within you..."**_

A pedestal to his left rose up, a staff appearing this time. _**"If you give it form..."**_

A pedestal in front of him rose up, and a sword appeared, all three weapons floating, as if they're suspended in mid-air. _**"It will give you strength..."**_ The voice explained.

He gazed over the three weapons over the pedestals. The common thing all three of them shared is that they had, are strange 3-circled insignia that resembles a mouse's head…

_**"Choose well, Master Thief"**_

"What?" He spoke up for the first time since coming here, startled. "Wait, how do you know I'm a thief?" He demanded, trying to look for the source.

Yet it seemed the voice is gone. The young raccoon concerned. He looked at the weapons once more. What did the voice mean by 'choose'? Did it want him to pick a weapon?

He slowly went over to the sword first, gripping the hilt as he laid the blade onto the palm of his other hand. The moment he did, he felt… _stronger... braver..._

_**"The power of the warrior. Invincible courage. A sword of terrible destruction. Is this the power you seek?"**_

The invincible courage part sounded (), but the part about destruction made him think of others that had fallen towards the madness that power brings. He looked at the sword one more time before shaking his head, releasing the sword, letting it suspended in mid-air once more.

He went over to the shield this time, grabbing the edges as he looked over the handle at the back of it. From the shield he felt a strong desire to protect and felt… _kinder._

_**"The power of the guardian. Kindness to aid friends. A shield to repel all. Is this the power you seek?"**_

Guardian, huh? Well... he was pretty good at protecting anyone he could. Even if…

No. He couldn't think about that.

He gripped the handle and made a few practice strokes with it, "Maybe not."

The shield in his hand suddenly vanished, taking him by surprise. Yet... he felt that it became a part of him.

_**"Your path is set. Now, what will you give up in exchange?"**_ The voice asked.

He immediately looked over at the staff. Jogging over to it, he plucked the staff from the pedestal. He became _smarter... wiser..._

_**"The power of the mystic. Inner strength. A staff of wonder and ruin. Will you give up this power?"**_

Mystic? As in a 'magic'? Well, he was never one to use 'magic'. But that sounds interesting to try it out.

So he answered, "Yes" The staff suddenly had a lot of cracks on it before it seemed to fade away, taking the young raccoon by surprise. When it did, a part of him also faded away...

_**"You have chosen the power of the mystic... You've given up the power of the mystic... Is this the form you choose?"**_

"I think I can handle myself. So sure, why not?"

_**"...Very well then."**_

He suddenly felt something... dark, behind him. He turn on his heels, seeing the pedestal that once held the staff sinking into a puddle of dark ooze, the other two pedestals sharing the same fate. The platform he was on shook violently until large cracks appeared on it. He quickly backed up, though he was forced to go to the middle when he realized there was nowhere else to go.

Finally, the ground under him shattered, sending him plummeting into the darkness below.

As he fell... strange images appeared in his head.

_A young boy with blonde spiky hair looked around the place, his face in awe, before he noticed seven little men heading towards the mines._

He offered his hand to the young black haired girl, who looked uncertain and afraid of the dark forest around her-

He defended the girl from strange monsters as the two made their way through the forest, until they reached a clearing, where a small and humble cottage sits near the small river bed.

He handed a red apple to an ugly old hag, who gladly took it as she placed it on top of the different colored apples in her basket. To him, that seemed a bit… odd. And for some reason, he felt something off with this lady...

He blinked when the images have passed. _'What the...'_ The images looked so strange... and distorted. He couldn't hear any sound coming from those images, not even voices...

But before he could think more of it, he noticed a dark blue light shining behind him. He turned, squinting his eyes a little as he tried to look through the harsh light. But he did make out an image of a different maiden on it.

It was a young woman in a beautiful white dress, which seemed to make her blonde hair glow some more. She, too, looked like she was asleep (along with having short ears). His decent began to slow, which he used to righten himself a bit to land neatly onto the platform.

He took a quick glance around the platform, shifting his deep brown eyes around. Everything seemed quiet..._Too_ quiet.

Suddenly, he spotted strange, black globs on the ground. To his shock, the blobs suddenly came to life! They were huge ant-like monsters with stubby limbs, pointy feet, claws that looked sharp enough to cut a limb to shreds, and a large round head with two antennas. Yet what made him shudder are the glowing yellow eyes.

_**"There will be times you have to fight,"**_ the voice spoke up, _**"Keep your light burning strong."**_

He didn't need to be told twice.

The black... bugs inched closer to him, forcing him to back up-

Until he felt his heel at the edge of the platform. He took a quick glance behind him then back at the creatures. Narrowing his eyes, he got into defensive stance. Well, he's not going out without a fight! Powers or no powers!

Suddenly, he felt something... warm, in his right hand. Startled, he looked at his hand, seeing a faint white glow around it...

Until the staff he had chosen appeared in his hand. How did...?

He remembered the black monsters, looking at them then at the staff. He narrowed his eyes, and got into stance.

_**"You've gained the power to fight. Use this power to protect yourself, and others to come."**_

This time, he didn't speak up. Instead, he wearingly eyed the black things. He gazed at the nearest one, and charged, staff reared back. "Watch out!" He yelled as he approached the creature. He swung the staff, using the edge to slash through it. The strike stunned it, and he continued his attack. He did an uppercut with the pointy part of the staff and finished it by using the face of the staff to bash it away. The creature disappeared in a mist of darkness, bits of the darkness landing on the platform. And started to spread.

As the first one is destroyed, one of the others got over excited and tried to attack him. However, he quickly spotted it before using the face of the staff to block its claws and started to dispatch the rest, never noticing the bits of darkness landing on the platform and spreading. A few of them got lucky, landing a few hits on him; yet the injuries weren't too severe.

Soon, he had defeated all of them. And not even breaking a sweat, too!

He panted lightly, pulling some of his gray ears back a little. "Man... I guess training with a magic staff instead of a cane actually paid off," he said to himself.

...Until he finally noticed the black splotches on the platform, spreading and covering the platform. Like last time, the young raccoon was easily surrounded by the dark pools.

Suddenly, one appeared under him, and he immediately sink into it. In panic, he tried to get himself free, but the dark pool won't let up; as if it was like quicksand! It wasn't long until he was swallowed up by the darkness...

And with it... more images.

_A blue haired young woman walked into a brightly lit room her face in awe of the large room, a foyer she realized, she entered. Then she was startled when a young woman in a white dress ran by, a lean man holding a glass slipper chasing after her._

She walked on the red long carpet, into the ballroom, passing by a somewhat old woman followed by two other girls. Then she stopped and looked at the three females with a shocked look. For a moment...she felt something negative about them.

_She looked distraught after an old lady in a blue robe told her about something. She looked at her weapon, uncertain for what she should do._

She fired something blue at the blue monsters, defending what looked like a mouse wearing red clothes as he held onto a key for dear life.

Sitting in front of a fountain, she looked on as the blonde young woman embraced a young man wearing royal-type clothes, a smile on her face. The girl deserved her prince, after all she went through...But... her master always told her that darkness needed to be destroyed. But how? If not with light...?

...Slowly, slowly, the numbness he was in faded away. The feeling started from the tips of his toes, all the way to the top of his head. He twitched his fingers with a small groan before he opened his eyes, expecting to be back home...

...Unfortunately, he found himself on another platform. He sighed in annoyance. He pushed himself up from the ground, noticing his blue staff not far from him. He went over to and picked it up, then looked over this new platform. Unlike the last two ones, this one is pink and it had three big hearts, each with a silhouette of a girl (all with short ears) not a single one looked like it shows anything about the girl, and they don't seem asleep...

He rubbed his arm a little, feeling a throb of pain from the attacks the creatures made at him. He was fortunate that they aren't as bad as they looked.

He suddenly looked at the edge of a platform, seeing an energy of sorts swirl around an area before fading, leaving behind a chest with a large keyhole in the middle. The young raccoon approached it and, on an impulse, tapped it with his shield. Once it opened, revealing a small glass bottle containing a green substance with a blue star floating inside it. He picked it up from the chest, and tilted his head a bit. What is this stuff?

Curious, he shook the bottle a little. The blue star inside it suddenly dissolved, turning the liquid into a greenish-blue color. Startled, he looked over the bottle some more and found the label. It isn't an normal writing, yet... he could somehow read it.

"shaking it a bit, for a quick use, merely toss it into the air. If using it on another person, say the name of the target after tossing it, if using on self, do NOT say a name after tossing."

He once again raised a green brow. A potion? He looked over himself again, seeing the injuries he had gotten. He shrugged before he pulled the cork out. A few sparkles were released into the air around the opening a bit after opening, but he ignored it.

_'Well, Here I go,'_ he thought humorlessly, and drank the 'potion'.

And he held out his tongue in disgust. "Bleh! That stuff tasted gross!"

However, he quickly noted his injuries are healing up, as if he never went into battle! "Woah..." He breathed out, amazed. That stuff was as effective as normal medicine! ...Despite the bitter taste. 'Next time, I'm going to toss the bottle into the air...' He made a mental note to himself.

The bottle he hand in his hand suddenly cracked, getting his attention and he watched as it disintegrated, its particles fading away in the air.

He felt a strange energy behind him. He turned just in time to see a door of sorts materializing above one the top heart. It looked majestic looking, the door in the color of pinkish-purple.

He looked around the platform, trying to see if there's a catch. There is none. Dropping his guard for a little bit, he approached the door. When he got close, the door suddenly opened on its own. The doors slowly opened, until it revealed a gray mosaic-like background beyond it. He looked behind the door, seeing nothing behind it, even within the doors on the other end.

Somewhat disturbed, he went back to the front of the door, into the gray mosaic background. He held up his hand and moved it to the inside of the door.

It went through it as the mosaic rippled a bit, like it was water. Startled, he pulled his hand back out, the mosaic rippling some more. He looked at his hand. Nothing had happened to it when he moved his hand through it.

Okay, it looked safe enough...

He nodded to himself before he walked into it. He phased through it like it was nothing. He looked around the new area. It was another platform, only this time, it was red-orange. The maiden has long, flowing blonde hair, wearing a blue dress (also with short ears), holding a rose close to her with lots of dark thorns behind her. She looked so young, yet... she looked so... beautiful-

He slapped himself. "Stop!," he told himself. He couldn't think about this! Although, Carmelita would look lovely in that dress-

_'STOP IT!'_ He mentally shouted in his head, holding it as he tried to get himself together.

After he had calmed himself a bit, he noticed that the door he entered through had disappeared. He grunted. He walked onto the platform, wearingly looking around for anything suspicious. When he got to the middle, though, he held his head as he was hit by more images.

_A young man with spiky earth brown hair walked over to a lake side in a forest. The place is very strange looking, quite unlike his home. But he wasn't here for sightseeing. He was here to find.  
After slaying the () he looked over the large, majestic castle at the end of the long stone bridge. Yet something felt... off with the castle. Nearby, he noticed someone with horns, wearing a black cloak. Something in him told him that this person is bad news, but maybe this person knew where () is. With that in mind, he approached the person-_

He suddenly found himself out of the strange dark void. However, he quickly noticed that the blonde maiden's skin is sickly white, as if… No! He turned to the woman…no, the witch, filled with horror. What did she made him do? Did he…oh no.

He looked over the limp young girl, feeling terrible. He couldn't believe he let that witch take control of him so easily! He swore that he'll get her heart and her light…back to her. But not the way he is now. Someday, when he bested the darkness within him, he will...

He shook his head lightly, trying to rid of himself of the images. What is going on? First a young blond kid, then a young woman with blue hair, and now, a guy with earth brown hair? What do these images mean?

But before he could look into this some more, the ant-creatures suddenly appeared and surrounded him. Acting quickly, he whipped out his staff and got into stance. "Does this ever end?" He groaned to himself.

He didn't get a reply, but he's willing to bring his frustration out on these things. After a lot of slashing, bashing, smashing (and a few punches and kicks to go with it), he defeated them all. When he fell the last one, however, he felt… something unlock within him...

As he tried to regain his breath, he tried to figure out this... phenomenon he just experienced. 'What WAS that?' He asked himself, looking over himself.

**An ability, Sly...** A bodiless voice answered, startling him. He looked around wildly for the source. Yet there's none. The voice sounded familiar though.

'It couldn't be... could it...?' He thought, 'But how can that be? He's... He's gone. So many years...'

He felt his heart ache a bit, frowning when an image of him - of his father - appeared in his head. He´s taking in a shuddering breath, trying to calm himself. Yet he wasn't able to stop a stray tear from going down his cheek.

His ears picked up a curious sound. Like... a little bell ringing. He quickly looked towards the source, seeing stain-glass staircase forming, all the way to the next platform, which shined in a soft golden-yellow light.

**Be careful, Sly,** the voice warned him, **What lies ahead is your final challenge. But you must beware: the closer you are to the light, the more powerful your shadow becomes...**

Light? Shadow? What did the voice mean? Yet it disappeared before he could ask.

He made an annoyed sighed again, but shook his head and went to the staircase. After pressing his foot down onto the first step to test it, he confirmed that it's safe to walk on. Assured by this, he climbed the glass-stained steps towards his next (and hopefully last) destination.

A mighty crack boomed into the air, making him flinch. Turning back, he watched as the red-orange platform he was on shattered to a million pieces...

And the steps he had walked on previously stared to crack, too. "AH!" He yelled and broke into a run. He didn't look back, because he knew the steps behind him are shattering, falling into the dark abyss below him. He almost fell over his feet a few times, but, when he got to the last step, he took the leap of faith...

...And tumbled onto the ground, just as the last step shattered to pieces. Never to be seen again.

After a few moments, he picked himself up, looking at where the steps used to be. He sighed. Well, no turning back now...

Pushing himself to stand, he looked over the last platform. It was another female in a yellow dress, which seemed to match her brown hair; and like the last few platforms, she is also asleep. Seriously, what is it with these short eared, un-fur females? Yet, behind her... is what resembled a large brown beast, with horns and everything.

He walked to the center of the platform, scratching his head a bit with a raised brow. Then looked around. "This is his 'final challenge' right? So... what exactly is it?"

_**"Master Thief,"**_ the first voice from before spoke up, prompting him to look up at the sky, _**"Prepare yourself as you face your fiercest enemy..."**_

_"Fiercest enemy? Who's that?" _ He mentally asked. Suddenly, he felt something... _dark_ behind him. But not the kind of darkness he knew...

He turned on his heel, to the source-

Seeing nothing. That was strange... He thought he felt something.

There's nothing but darkness, and his own shadow... wait... Is it just him or is his shadow growing _larger_? The 'shadow' suddenly turned as if it was standing straight. Then it suddenly came to life, rising from the ground!

"Whoa, _no_!" He cursed out, jumping back in surprise when his shadow stood menacingly over him. It looked over him with a grin he knew all too well, glaring at him with gleaming yellow eyes, filled with hate. He could do nothing but watch, with wide eyes, as the large "shadow" started to transform into a large humanoid being with wavy, snake-like hair wearing some sort of "clothe" around its mouth and collar bone, a pair of small "wings" on its back and a giant cut out heart on its stomach.

After it was done transforming, he stared dumbly at it. "Oh," he said, "So that's my fiercest enemy..."

**Do not show fear, even at the face of this being,** the voice told him. **And never forget...**

His brown eyes widened a small bit. That voice...

He narrowed his eyes and nodded, feeling assured. Shield in hand, he got into stance, ready for what it might throw at him. "It´s on!"

The battle began when the large behemoth threw a giant punch at him. He rolled out of the way, the fist making an impact onto the ground - and seemed to _sink_ into the ground, where the upper wrist is only shown. From around it, the small shadows emerged from the large dark puddle around where the fist was. The young raccoon attacked the shadows first, before moving on to damage the larger monster's arm.

When the monster started to move its hand out of the ground, the young raccoon was struck with an idea. He quickly jumped high and gripped onto one of its fingers, and was left dangling for a bit. The behemoth spotted the young raccoon and tried to shake him off; he quickly shifted his body to grip the finger with both his arms and even his legs to hold on. The black giant spotted him on its hand, the grey raccoon looking up at the giant as it raised its hand to smash him.

**MOVE!** The voice barked, momentarily snapping him back to attention; making him quickly roll away from other hand.

He then ran along the other arm, quickly jumping over the hand as it tried to swat him away until he reached the head, raining combos upon it. However, he only landed a few hits before the creature, while growling in pain and in anger, grabbed him before throwing him to the ground. He cried out in pain as he rolled onto the ground painfully before coming to a stop, dangerously near the edge. He pushed himself up, shook his head lightly and pushed himself up on unsteady legs before he picked up his staff.

Just as the creature was getting on its knees where some... energy is formed within the heart-shaped cut-out hole, and... literally shot out energy beams.

**Block it!** The voice told him. He blinked before he did as the voice said, holding up the face of the staff.

Just as the orb projectile hit some sort of... energy staff in front of the staff, literally deflected back to the sender... and smacking head on onto its head, causing it to screech in pain. As the creature groaned, holding its face, the young raccoon smirked haughtily. _"That is too easy!"_

However, he thought too soon, because the next moment, it suddenly lashed out faster than he could register - smacking him to the ground. Caught off guard, he cried out in pain, releasing his shield as a result, and the weapon clattered far from him before it faded away in stream-like energy of light. Disoriented, he tried to push himself up.

Until the monster pinned him down with its large hand, crying out in pain and surprise. He struggles violently against the grip, even trying to free his arms to see if he could try to pry them off. However, he quickly noticed a pool of darkness appearing under him. In panic, he renewed his thrashing.

_**"…But don't be afraid,"**_ the voice faintly whispered.

Small, black hands emerged from the pool and grabbed parts of his body, as they all tried to drag him into it.

_**"You hold the mightiest weapon of all..."**_

Most of his body was slowly into the pool. His struggle began to wane. It was becoming hard to see clearly. He could hardly breathe...

_**"So don't forget:"**_

The last thing he saw, before the darkness completely took him, was the ominous yellow glow of the monster's eyes.

_**"You are the one… who will help the chosen one open the door."**_

And the young raccoon, Sly, knew nothing as the darkness consumed him in its embrace...

…

"**BENTLEY!"**

"**MURRAY!"**

"_**CARMELITA!"**_

"_**HELP!"**_

Sly was try his best to keep calling for help, but with no response. He struggles desperately to escape the darkness, even it is too strong to hold him back.

"**No…"** he thought sadly, almost to give up. As he reach his right hand while the darkness almost swallowing him, suddenly, another hand came out of nowhere, this time, this one wears a white bell-sleeves and tan, fingerless gloves. It is grabbing Sly´s hand, pulling him off to save his life, and a flash of bright light came.

When Sly opened his eyes again, he was laying on ground of the another stained glass. He getting back up to his feet and begin to look at the glass floor for analyzing.

This one was aquamarine blue in color and revolving around a young beautiful woman, who has blue hair and wears a black and navy blue, high-collared halter top, a black corset with two pairs of white laces and black shorts. She has two pink straps intersecting over her chest, with a silver badge similar to badges over the intersection. On her arms are white bell-sleeves and tan, fingerless gloves. She also wears a small, segmented piece of armor on each of her upper arms. She wears black stockings reaching about halfway up her thighs, leaving a small area of bare skin. There are two strips of blue cloth draped over each of her hips, along with a smaller, white strip of cloth tied around her waist and draped in the same manner. Her silver boots are pointed and armored, with a sharp "hook" on the outer side of each other. She was holding an oddly shaped grey and metallic blue weapon, which is looks like a key being held in reverse.

Sly recognized her as the woman from the images. The pictures surrounding his head was a young boy with spiky blond hair, a young man with dark brown hair, a young girl with dark red hair and a mouse. The background appeared to be some kind of wasteland.

"**Who…who is she? **Sly whispered, wanted to know about the woman of this stained glass. **"I wish Bentley was here, so he can crack this puzzle."**

"…_**She is one of those people who are hurting." **_The voice came back, which starlets Sly a little.

"…_**You must begin your next journey and help the chosen one to save those people, who are connecting both of your hearts."**_

"**My heart?" **Sly questioned, while touching his chest and feel his heart. When suddenly, the woman from the stained glass appeared out of nowhere_**. **_As she turn around to face Sly, she gave a bright smile at him, which make Sly confuse and concerned. Everything was black now.

"**Who are you?"**

…

"**WHOA!" **Sly woke up with wide eyes open and found himself in the familiar dark, warm, cluttered space of his bedroom on the safe house at the city of lights: Paris.

The safe house is a building where the Cooper Gang, the world most infamous thieving gang, make their plans. There is a table and three seats for three people. There is a laptop next to the "brains" of this team to access ThiefNet, a shopping website for all thieves and other criminals sell their stolen loots for coins, and then use those coins to buy new gadget or other objects. It also has a chat room. There are various items on the table, depending on where the Cooper Gang is. For example, there is a pizza box on the table when it was lunch or dinner time. And finally, there are three huge windows with a view of important structures, behind the table and three chairs.

The raccoon was lying in his warm bed with dark blue covers pushed down to the bottom of the bed with a circled window next to him so he can see millions of lights and buildings in this famous capital. Sly looked down at himself and saw that he was no longer wearing his thief outfit, instead was dressed a blue pajamas with dark blue stripes patterns all-over it. He sighed when he realized he was safe.

That it is until, a loud noise appears which starlets Sly, inadvertently. A noise that it is so loud that sounds like a storm…or worse, a warthog.

He glanced over his bed and saw his long-time friend, Murray, snoring.

Murray was asleep in his and Bentley´s double deck bed, while Bentley is asleep up in the bed.

As you can see, before meeting his friends, Sly comes from a long line of master thieves. The Coopers have only stolen from criminals, because there is no honor in stealing from ordinary people. However, Sly lost his parents at a young age and his heirlooms were stolen from him. He was dumped at the orphanage, where he met Bentley and Murray.

Since then, they have been a closest friends, but a family. Sly is Master Thief, Bentley is the Brains, and Murray is the Brawn, the perfect trio. Together, they pulled off some of the greatest heists. They bested the Fiendish Five and reclaim Sly´s heirloom, took down the Klaww Gang and their mad scheme to reassemble a robotic terror.

Right now, they are working on to how retrieve the Cooper vault, a vault where all Coopers stash their loots located on Kaine Island, South Pacific. However, upon arrival, they find the island has been taken over by Dr. M, and made into a seemingly impenetrable fortress. Sly realizes that it will take a world class gang of thieves to break into the vault.

How Sly and the gang hired four other professionals to help with the heist? The gang first sought to bring back Murray, who left the gang after Bentley was crippled during "the Clockwerk Incident". They found Murray in Venice, Italy under the orders of The Guru, his "dream-state" teacher. They later recruited the Guru during an expedition in the Australian outback. The gang continued on, recruiting Penelope, a remote controls expert and eventually Bentley's girlfriend, Panda King, a demolitions expert who joined the gang after his daughter is saved from ruthless General Tsao, and Dimitri, an underwater expert and a diver.

Sly couldn´t helped but smiled at them, thanking them for everything.

Through the good times and bad times, they always find the way to solve the situations in their adventures.

"_**I wouldn´t allow my heritage to die at my generation. Whether or not my parents agreed, I decided to uphold the tradition, I know my father sits in a proud silence, and that´s enough for me.**_**" **Sly though himself **"**_**It was nice to have my friends by my side through it all: past, present and future.**_**" **With his words, Sly continue to smile.

"**Leave me some hamburgers, cause the Murray is starving!" **Murray mumbled, dreaming about hundreds of foods he has been eaten. As for Bentley…

"**The improper fraction 355/113 is an approximation of pi accurate to six decimal places. The improper fraction 22/7 is a more common and less accurate estimate…" **Bentley mumbled as well, dreaming about one of his mathematical challenges, like his usual free time activities.

Sly couldn´t helped but giggled a lot, if it wasn´t by his friends snoring. Either way, they all deserve a well break.

As Sly glanced back to his window once last time, he though with a look of determination on his face **"**_**But now…once Dr. M is out of our hairs, I can finally see and discover inside of my family´s vault." **_And so, the master thief head back to his bed and fell asleep gently.

Unbeknownst to him, outside of his window, appears a glowing 'blue' star streamed across the night sky, wonder what could it be…or who.


End file.
